May 28, 2011

Divine Appointments: How I Met Cindy Sumner's Mother

Today I took my son and I to the grocery store (Walmart) and saw these delicious strawberries for $1.25 a box. Well, when I picked them up and smelled them, they had no sweet scent. Yes, I realize I look like an idiot sniffing a box of berries, but if they smell like nothing, then logic dictates they don't taste like anything. Atleast that is my logic.
So I decided against going to Monette's Market to get some real berries, but halfway down the street I realized I forgot to buy some stuff for lunch today and figured I could get some lunch meat from the market. There deli is much more delicious and cheaper. Wow. Big surprise. I step in the store, get my cart for Noah, who decides to try and nick a cherry. I told him no and he put it back. After I smelled my berries I went to the deli, got my number and waited.
My son does his usual magic, smiles and looks gosh darn cute. So this lady starts talking to me about him, asking what age he is. I guess her child was older, because she said "I miss that." I then told her that I miss him being a little newborn that didn't run away from me. Her reply just about floored me.
"My kid was murdered." It was noisy and I didn't quite hear it, but when she repeated the word, I got it quite clear. Well, I could have not said anything or given her a generic "I am sorry." But I am not sorry, I am in the same boat. It wasn't my child, it was my best friend.
So I opened up despite how much it sucks to go back to that memory. People who have suffered through the murder of a loved one don't always have the luxury of someone understanding their pain. But I did and I told her "I know what your going through." Then I told her my story and how the guy who murdered Jan got to trial SIX years later.
She told me that her daughter was found under six feet of water in an abandoned warehouse in Toledo (Elm Street).
It's so random to just tell someone about that, but I am glad she did, because there aren't many people who get the suffering of someone who has had a loved one murdered. I just hope that I helped her and wish I could have stayed in contact, but God will take care of her.
Nobody should have to lay their loved one to rest in a coffin and be able to see their bruises, and swollen body! NOBODY. I did. I will never forget what Jan looked like.
R.I.P. Cindy Sumner